Very long exposure/Live View???

I enjoy using a 10-stop neutral density filter on my Canon 5D. I usually use a 24-70 lens to shoot very long exposures. I compose the photo with no filter on the lens. I then screw on the lens and take the long exposure....sometimes 60 seconds or so. I range from 30 seconds to somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 minutes depending on the situation.

The thing with the 10 stop filter is that it is dead black. When I look through the viewfinder I can't see a thing. It is impossible to compose a photograph.

Screwing the filter on and off for each shot is a major inconvenience.

My question is........Would having "Live View" help? I have never used a camera with "Live View" so I don't know how it works.

If I could get away with using live view and it would allow me to keep the filter on to compose images....it would be great.

Bottom line......would Live View work for me in that situation?

live view still looks through the lens.

va_rider wrote in post #9478682
live view still looks through the lens.

this is true...but you can also set the live view to simulate the exposure...which means you can make the screen brighter...but the problem i see is that your shutter speed would max out at 30 secs...not sure if it'd help in bulb mode

DreDaze wrote in post #9478780
this is true...but you can also set the live view to simulate the exposure...which means you can make the screen brighter...but the problem i see is that you'll shutter speed would max out at 30 secs...not sure if it'd help in bulb mode

Why the 30 second cutoff? What about bulb mode?

Tom K. wrote in post #9478836
Why the 30 second cutoff? What about bulb mode?

honestly, i don't have much experience with longer shutters... and i don't know how bulb mode really works...but don't you hit the shutter, and then you decide when to turn it off?

i mean you could still use bulb mode, it's just when you are adjusting the settings in live view...the max shutter you can set is 30 secs(unless i need to change something in my custom functions or something)...so that's what i mean by you being limited...i think it'd still help you see more with the filter on

I just put on a 9 stop filter on a 5D2 and 1.4 lens and I can see with live view (I am inside in a well lit room but it is night time here so I cannot check in the sun) it is not a daylight bright image and upping the lcd brightness does help. I would be able to compose as it is but dark areas of the image are going to be a bit tricky to see. With a slow lens (2.8 ) I can still focus but it is a now a fairly miserable view and a 10 stop filter might put it over the useful edge. It is not a night vision goggle substitute. Bulb looks the same as a 30 sec. exposure.

Quad wrote in post #9479154
I just put on a 9 stop filter on a 5D2 and 1.4 lens and I can see with live view (I am inside in a well lit room but it is night time here so I cannot check in the sun) it is not a daylight bright image and upping the lcd brightness does help. I would be able to compose as it is but dark areas of the image are going to be a bit tricky to see. With a slow lens (2.8 ) I can still focus but it is a now a fairly miserable view and a 10 stop filter might put it over the useful edge. It is not a night vision goggle substitute. Bulb looks the same as a 30 sec. exposure.

Thanks for taking the time to do this Quad. The info you provided is excellent.